Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Iraq: Update--Shi'ite Leadership Has Justification to Worry...A Lot!

According to Reuters, the line
outside the Iraqi passport documentation office stretches down the
street. The people of Baghdad, particularly those that are Shi'ite, are fleeing a Sunni insurgency barely a dozen
miles outside of Baghdad.

The militant offensive, spearheaded by the puritanical Sunni Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in alliance with other anti-government
tribes, has seized majority Sunni areas across the north and west of the
country.

The fighters'
rapid advance has halted about an hour's drive north of the capital and
even closer on its western outskirts, bringing renewed fear to a city of
7 million people where memories of a sectarian bloodbath are still
fresh and daily suicide bombings are still as routine as the weather.

Baghdad is mainly divided into
Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhoods, some still sealed off by razor wire
and even concrete blast walls.

COMMENT: By now, with Sunni insurgents literally miles away of Baghdad, Shi'ites, when they go to bed at night, no doubt seriously consider whether it would have been "safer" to share power with the Sunnis, yet that amounts to a "spilled milk" exercise that can only be described as an exercise in futility.

Sadly, the Iraqi Army, sworn to protect "all foes, foreign and domestic," have chosen to become cowards.

Some Baghdad residents are seeking refuge in the country’s Kurdish north, which is relatively secure. That may last temporarily...until their true colors are identified.

Others, understandably, simply wait for their lives to potentially end. And, not well.

About Me

I retired from the US State Department in April 2006, after a career as a special agent, Senior Regional Security Officer (SRSO), director of training, chief investigator of the Cyprus Missing Persons Program, director of security of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and as a senior adviser in the Office of Anti-Terrorism Assistance.
My book, STAYING SAFE ABROAD: TRAVELING, WORKING AND LIVING IN A POST-9/11 WORLD was published in May 2008.
A complete update of STAYING SAFE ABROAD 2015, will be release during early 2015 for the iPad, Kindle and Nook and other e-readers.
I am a former Federal Firearms Dealer (US), a certified NRA pistol instructor and a certified NRA Range Safety Officer.
My career has also included 15 years as an international security consultant; for ten years I served as the security adviser to the Inter-American Development Bank.
I additionally, served six years in the Marines, which included combat service in Vietnam.
I am available for operational assignments, lecturing opportunities and in providing security solutions anywhere in the world.